Sunday, July 31, 2011

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere it's the dog days of summer, so I couldn't resist using this Mo Manning image for my "Stay Cool" card. It's that dog, I just can't resist him, he is one cool puppy. This week the theme for the Pile It On challenge is "Stay Cool" which is a real life challenge for the many of you that have been hit with the horrible heat wave. Oddly, here in southwest Florida it hasn't been too bad and when it is, well, it's time to find some water and take a dip. But I digress...The idea of the Pile It On challenge is to make a card with our theme and at least one other challenge. There's links to lots of other challenges on the blog and the work of the other design team to inspire you. Of course the linkey thing is there for when you finish your project. This week the challenge is sponsored by Stamp Fairy.

Purple, yum, I love purple. If you love purple too, then this week's Cupcake Inspirations challenge CIC121 was made for you. This fun and utterly adorable dragon topped cake is the inspiration and our sponsor is JLJ Designs offering a $10 gift card to the store, with which can get you plenty of goodies. If you don't have a lot of space for your crafting supplies check out the digi paper, you can keep a vast selection on file and just print it out as you need it. For my card I used the "Ballerina Angie" digi image and the "Dots Digital Paper".

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. I also hope that you'll play along with us at Cupcake Inspirations and make a card inspired by the photo. You know you'll have fun if you do, so do it.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

I owe a big thank you to all you challenge blogs that have been doing Christmas in July challenges. It certainly has helped me get a few cards done ahead of time especially since my thought to make at least one Christmas card a week wasn't followed through, anybody else relating to this?

The Cat's Pajamas challenge is to use any TCP stamp that uses any form of transportation. Lucky for me I have the "Candyland Christmas" set which has a candy train in it. That worked out well, won't you say. The only down side is that I have a yearning for a candy cane. Unfortunately I don't have any around but I do have a pack of Extra Mint Chocolate Chip gum. It's not as good as having a bowl of Hagen Das or Ben and Jerry's but it'll do in a pinch. But I digress...

Friday, July 29, 2011

What do you do when the challenge is to not use markers? That's this week's challenge at Paper Pretties.I've been hoarding this rainbow bling for a couple months so now's the perfect time to use it. Talk about a fast card! It took about a minute to put it together and I think it makes a really nice note card.I picked up this bling at Michael's but there's a couple rainbow die cuts out there that could be used for a similar look.

Here's the deets:stamp - Paper Pretties "Fun Quotes"ink - Close To My Heart "Cranberry"paper - a card from a pack of blanks from a craft store

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Have you read any good books lately? Or are you so busy you barely have time to think yet alone read? If you're a reader, and you take the time to leave me a comment, recommend a book. Here's some of the books and authors I've been reading: John Irving, if you like a good long story with quirky characters he's the man; Pat Conroy, another one for good long stories, with a southern bent; Jonathan Kellerman for fast paced detective stories; the Girl with the Tattoo series, Sookie Stackhouse series; Stephanie Plum series. As soon as I saw this week's My Favorite Things sketch I was itching to make a card. It's the triple scallop layer that gets me.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Teddy Bea can pull off wearing orange, and doesn't she look sweet on her way to the beach. Every thing's been shabbied and distressed right down to the ribbon. That was fun, wonder if I'll ever have clean fingers.

For those of you who visit often and read about Shamus (aka Naughty Boy) and have wondered what he looks like, I'm adding a couple pics of the fellow.

in a minute he will be up on his legs and wapping on the window trying to get the lizard that's outside, I think the poor little lizard almost had a heart attack.

I have no idea why he jumps up onto this little space but he does. He likes to walk around the columns, there are two of them and he walks around both of them. He has also been seen walking across the buffet on the right.

Does my daughter need another excuse for not putting her clothes in her drawers

home decor as appetizer. the wreath now sits on a shelf in the garage. well, those are just a few of the newer pics that help to explain how he got the name Naughty Boy.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

How about a pretty girly girl inspiration with lots of lace and pink? Well that's what Cupcake Inspirations has for you this week and what better company to sponsor the challenge than Paper Pretties.

Now if these girly cupcakes aren't your cup of tea then hop on over to the Cupcake Inspirations blog because this week we have a second cupcake photo that just might be your thing. You'll also find the rules (nothing earth shattering but you know we like to see new creations and that sort of stuff), the rest of the design teams creations and of course the linky thing.

﻿

can you see the cocktail charm, you can click on the photo to enlarge it

﻿ I was inspired by the girliness of the images, I just love all the pinks and lavenders and frilly stuff. This kitty is "PURRRty Girl" a Paper Pretties digital stamp which you can find here.The store has way more than stamps, you can find everything you need there to make your paper projects.

If my naughty boy Shamus were allowed to date I think he would like this gal with her pearls and bows. They'd make a handsome couple but because he is a naughty boy he's grounded and he's likely to stay grounded for a long, long time.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. Now go get busy making something inspired by those fun cuppies and then link it up to the Cupcake Inspirations challenge blog so we can see it. Who knows maybe you'll win this week.

By the way, if you're a Paper Pretties fan then scroll down to my next post, Pile It On is also being sponsored by Paper Pretties this week.

If you're almost anywhere in the United States it's hot. So how weird is it that here in Florida it's about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than most of the rest of the country! If you're living with this oppressive heat you might as well stay inside, if you've got air conditioning (if not go someplace that has it) and work on a card for this week's Pile It On challenge PIO 30 "Fun in the Sun". This week we are sponsored by Paper Pretties and Heather has given the design team a choice of some of the fun digis created by Artish. Paper Pretties has it all, believe me I've gotten everything I need there and Heather is just a sweetheart. So if you're looking for stamps or digis, paper or embellies, make a stop at Paper Pretties, you'll like it there. AND Heather is offering YOU a 20%. Just use the code: PILEITON.Need some inspiration, go over to the Pile It On challenge blog where you'll find the rest of the design teams work, the very simple rules and a linky thingy.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back again. Now get busy making a project for the Pile It On challenge PIO30 Fun in the Sun. We can't wait to see what you do, so don't forget to link it up. And don't forget the 20% discount (code: PILEITON) at Paper Pretties what better reason to go shopping!

Friday, July 22, 2011

﻿ Come fly, let's fly away. Is anybody else humming a Frank Sinatra song? I love Sinatra, I don't care how old you, you can swing with 'ole blue eyes. My father was a big fan so we heard Sinatra all the time and as I got older I kept listening. I don't know where my brother found this web site but if you are a Sinatra fan you might get a kick out of it. But I digress...This week at the Cat's Pajamas the challenge is to use watermelon red, pumpkin orange and grass green. This is what I came up with. The goggles are green and parts of the airplane and if you can't tell the red paper is supposed to the inside of a watermelon, those black spots are seeds. The layout if from this week's Stampin' Royalty sketch challenge.

This week's challenge at Stampin' for the Weekend is "Paws for Thought". That immediately got me thinking about Shirley's 2 Girls stamps, many of them feature pets. Around these parts it's not unusual at all to see a pooch in a purse. This winter at a local tree lighting ceremony one couple attended with four greyhounds in tow, each and everyone of which was wearing elf attire. While I have never dressed up my dogs, my daughter used to dress up our cat, the poor baby. It cracked me up but it ticked off the cat. But I digress...For the SFTW challenge we want to see creatures with paws on your creations. You can find all the fabulous samples the design team has made as well as the challenge rules and the linky thingy by clicking here. Grab a cup of coffee or a Cosmo and check it out.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Why am I amazed? Because I finished this card yesterday, had the picture ready to post by dinner time, had the time to sit and do a post, and after I got it posted I couldn't think of a thing to say. Still haven't got anything else to say. Amazing.

Critter Sketch Challenge #74 - Happy Birthday to Me (I would love to get this card because it's paper pieced, my favorite technique, it uses plaid paper, I love plaid paper, there's lace to frill it up, and stickles for shimmer - I just may keep this card!)

Kaboodle Doodle #76 - Embossing (hard to see but it's on the pink cross bar)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Mojo Monday posted its 200th sketch challenge. WOW! That's something. I figure that makes them close to 4 years old. I haven't been following Mojo for that whole time, but once I found it I became a loyal follower. Mojo and other challenges are responsible for my blog. It all started a few short years ago with stalking the Splitcoast site. I think I stalked for about 2 years before I got the courage up to post a card. Reading the posts on Splitcoast I found out about challenges on the Internet. To participate in some of the challenges you needed a blog, and that folks is how I came to blog. Back to Mojo...Every Monday a new sketch challenge is posted and the first Monday of the month is a prize week. The Wednesday of the following week the winners are announced with a slide show presentation. I just love to sit and watch the cards. There are so many talented crafters out there and the cards are fantastic, lots of inspirations in that show. Even browsing the thumbnails I get inspired and impressed. So thanks to Julee for such a great blog, I hope this challenge is around for many more years.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. A bigger thanks for all of you who take the time to leave a comment. I read them all and deeply appreciate your kind words. And lastly a really big thanks to all you blogs that have a Christmas in July theme, that little push to make a Christmas card has now grown my stash to 5 cards! Woohoo! every little bit helps.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Yes, life is good, yes indeed, it is a picnic. If you have enough time to be sitting at a computer looking at this blog then it's likely that your life is pretty good too. This week the challenge theme at Pile it On is "Life's a Picnic" and our sponsor is Simon Says. You can find all your papercrafting needs at Simon Says so play along for a chance to win. You can find all the challenge details, more inspiration from the rest of the design team and the linky thingy for your project, all of that good stuff is here.For my card I chose to use one of my all time favorite stamps "Let's Picnic" by My Favorite Things. It comes with lots of little stamps, ﻿

don't forget the inside

﻿including the grapes, picnic basket, wine cheese and ants. I used two of my favorite techniques -paper piecing and distressing. You may not be able to tell from the photos but I've used three different inks to distress the card, even in person you may not be able to tell but all those different inks add a subtle yet appreciable difference.

﻿ At least that's what they tell me. It's not that pleasant a thought but if you find your prince then I guess it's worth it. Don't you just love the cupcakes for this week's Cupcake Inspirations challenge? I don't know which I like better that adorable little green fella or the castle. It's a good thing I don't have to pick one.This week's sponsor is Anita Be Stampin' and you can find out what the prize is, the challenge rules and get lots more inspiration from the design team by clicking here.

There was no hesitation in picking my stamp this week. Isn't this little guy perfect? I also choose to use the pinks and greens from that yummy looking icing. I love buttercream icing and these cuppies have me drooling. I'd love to be licking that icing off right now, but the mean old doctor told me no sugar (she's actually pretty young and very nice) But I digress... It's a great color combination. So what will you do? I can't wait to see your creations. Don't forget to link them up so the design team can come visit you.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Sugar Creek Hollow is one of my favorite challenge sites so I was thrilled to be asked to guest design for them (a big hug and thanks for having me play with you this week). SCH challenges you to make a project in a vintage, shabby chic or primitve style. One of the things I love to do to my cards is shabby them up. I can and do spend hours sponging and pouncing ink on paper.

This week the theme is "Wing Things" so you can us fairies, angels, birds and butterflies for example. So I chose to use a fairy teddy bear ballerina. It's from Teddy Bo and if you visit here regularly you know that the bears are a favorite of mine. Can you blame me?﻿ ﻿

Friday, July 15, 2011

﻿﻿ There's nothing that's much more fun than hitting the mall with your buddies. It looks like Teddy Bea has hit Bloomingdale's and Tiffany's. I don't know if there's a Bloomies anywhere near where I live now but back in NJ, I sure knew where to find them. I even worked at Bloomies for awhile. I think I ended up spending more than I earned there and that was with the discount! Well that was a long time ago and shopping is no longer an aerobic exercise for me, but my darling daughter has taken it up.

it's hard to see the bone button on the rosetteclick on the photo to enlarge it

That's dog for Happy Birthday! Who doesn't like our furry friends? I'm always skeptical of people who don't like dogs, if they've been bitten or have allergies I can understand but I don't know how anyone else can resist a furry face. As you can imagine most of my buddies have dogs and/or cats. So, I've got a card ready to go for the next one's birthday. Yeah for forethought and planning, two things I seldom do.

There's not much to point out about this card except for the stitching on the cross element. My little sewing machine punched out, and I can't seem to fix it which meant I had to break down and get the big guns out. So I hefted my trusty old Bernina out and decided to try one of the preset stitches, a double "x" or a quadruple zig zag not quite sure what you'd call it but it turned out to look pretty good.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

This cupcake is supposed to be dressed up as a mummy for Halloween but here's it's being used for a get well soon card. One of my buddies had her knee operated on on Monday so this will be going out to her in the hopes of cheering her up. I spoke to her on Tuesday and physically, her knee is feeling better than it has in months but she's a feeling a little blue because she has to rest and would rather be at the beach. Well, I can't blame her, it's summer, who wants to sit on the couch.

Here's the deets:stamp - Taylored Expressions "Trick or Sweet"; "Pennant a La Carte" and "It's a Banner Day"ink - Memento "Tuxedo Black"; Close to My Heart "Ocean" and Studio G (doesn't have a name on it, it's a creamy buttery yellow I used it for the banner, you can hardly see it and a light aqua for the image on the inside)paper - Stampin' Up "Bermuda Bay" cs; Georgia Pacific cs; October Afternoon "Thrift Shop"dpmiscellaneous - copics; mini brads; Taylored dies "Pennant Border" and "Banner Day 1"; sewing machine

Sunday, July 10, 2011

there's an ice cream cone charm hanging on the green ribbonclicking on the photo will enlarge it

We all scream for ice scream.﻿﻿﻿ ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿Do you see your favorite summer treat in this group? Mine was the Creamsicle, orange sherbet with vanilla ice cream in the center with the fudgsicle as a close runner up. Well, this week the challenge at Pile It On is to use your favorite technique. My fav is paper piecing otherwise I probably would have colored the pop orange to look like a creamsicle. This fun image is actually 3 images that can be used alone or in any combination. They are from the Wax Fruit Company this week's sponsor. Some of the other design team members used images from Wax Fruit Company, you can see them at the Pile It On challenge blog where you'll also find all the information you need to play along with us, the rules, the linkey things, links to lots of other challenges, all the goodies are here. The one thing you need to know is that you have to combine our challenge and at least one other challenge but we love to see you "pile on" the challenges.

﻿﻿ ...in our yellow submarine...everyone of us has all we need...sky of blue and sea of green...

It's time for a new Cupcake Inspirations challenge. Did you miss us last week? This week we are sponsored by Chi Chi Memories and we got to choose from some brand spanky new images. I picked the submarine and as you've read my mind went immediately to the Beatles "Yellow Submarine". Fortunately for me there's a yellow layer in those cupcakes. The orange layer is very striking too, so I used that for the portholes and then the aqua for the adorable little bear driving the sub. Do you drive subs? Maybe you steer them or pilot them, anybody else know? Obviously I'm not smarter than a fifth grader. But I digress...

This fun paper has been in my stash for a couple years now. It's perfect for this image. It's double sided, the black waves are the reverse of this page. It's from a K & Co. pad I haven't seen it in stores lately but it may still be around. There's a variety of different sized aqua bling for the bubbles, covering the bubbles with glossy accents would have worked well too.

On the inside I used a different section of the same paper and cut out and pasted one of the submarines for a decorative element.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. Now get busy working on a project for the Cupcake Inspirations CIC118 challenge. You'll find the rest of the design teams samples, the rules, and the linkey thingy here. We can't wait to see what you make.